Fire-resisting window.



No. 742,868. PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

- f G. HAYES. FIRE RBSISTING WINDOW.

I. APPLICATION FILED APR. 29. 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

192566375: 7 y I //7 yen/0r u: uonms Prrcns co, (noun-10.. wAsmNcTuN n cPATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

' G. HAYES. FIRE RBSISTING WINDOW.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 19036 ATENT FFICE.

GEORGE HAYES, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,868, dated November3, 1903.

Application filed April 2 9, 1 9 0 2.

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HAYES, a resident of the city of MountVernon, county of W'estchester, and State of New York, have invented anImprovement in Fire-Resisting Windows, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a means whereby the sashes in atire-proof window shall automatically close when a fire ocours in thebuilding in which it is placed or in an adjoining building, whether thesashes be hung to raise and lower vertically or to swing upon pivots.

My invention consists in joining the weightcords of the lower sash of anordinary window to that sash by a fusible connection and in attaching acounterbalance-weight to the upper sash of the same window by a fusibleconnection, so that upon exposure of the window todangerously-abnormalheat theweightcords will separate from the lowersash and the counterbalance from the upper sash, thus insuring theclosing of the window if either or both of the sashes be in an openedstate, as hereinafter to be described.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein the same letters represent alwaysthe same parts, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the right side of anordinary upper and lower sash window, showing the frame, lower sash, onecord and weight of the lower sash, the sash-cord pulley, and the fusibleconnections by which the sash and cord are joined. Fig. 2 is aperspective of the cleat by which the cord is joined to the lower sash.Fig. 3 is a perspective of the right-hand side and edge of the lowersash-frame, showing also the cleat and cord. Fig. -i is a side elevationof a pivot-window. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the right side of anordinary upper and lower sash window, showing the frame, upper sash, onecord and weight of the upper sash, the counterbalanceweight, and itsfusible connections to the upper sash; and Fig. 6 is a modification ofthe handle-bar shown in the fourth figure.

A is the frame of an ordinary upper and lower sash window. B isthe'lower and O the upper sash of such a window. D represents theglazing of those sashes. The cord a of the lower sash passes over thepulley 1) Serial No- 105,245. (No modelin the usual manner and has thesash-Weight c at its end within the box at of the frame.

E is a three-side sheet-metal cleat fitted to the edge or stile of thelower sash and overlapping the front and rear surfaces of the side ofthe lower sash. This cleat has an inwardly-directed plane e, providedwith a hole ffor the passage of the sash end of the cord a to be knottedor secured after it has traversed the hole, so that it may not be pulledaway from the cleat by the sash-weight. The cleat E is fastened to'thesash B by solder soluble under a dangerous degree of heat, and to givethe attachment the necessary endurance for ordinary wear and tear of thewindow I propose in practice to strengthen the attachment bysoluble-metal dowels g, inserted in the fabric of the sash through holesh in the wing sides of the cleat. Thoughl have described but one side ofthe lower sash, any builder will know that the construction andarrangement are duplicated on the other side.

If proper care and judgment be used in making the attachments of thecleat -t0 the window-sash solubly responsive to abnormal heat, it isevidentthat under the contemplated conditions the cleat will separatefrom the sash and the latter fall to the desired state of closure. Solong as the cord at of the lower sash is passed through the hole fof theinwardly-directed plane a of the cleat and fastened to the'cleat and notto the sash it is immaterial whether the side Wings of the cleat beapplied upon the faces of the sash-stile or be let into the faces and beflush with them for a better finish, because if those side wings beproperly recessed into the stile for the sake of appearance the meltingof the fusible fastening of the cleat and the weight of the thenunrestrained sash will insure the closing of the sash.

Without departure from the scope of the invention I may fix the cleatupon any suitable and convenient part of the sash and may omit either orboth of the Wing sides of it and may use two or more of the planes orinsets if a strong attachment of the weight-cord to the cleat isparticularly necessary. The invention in this part consists inseparating the cord of the lower sash and fastening it to a cleatattached to the sash by material soluble under a dangerous degree ofheat, so that under such a heat the cleat will break away from the sashand deprive it of the balancing of its sash-weight.

The upper sash O has its cord 70, its pulley Z, and its sash-weight m;but the latter is an overbalance. To counteract the overpull of the pairof sash-weights belonging to the upper sash, a weight-bar F is fixed toor inserted in the top or bottom rail of the sash or anywhere else uponor within the sash where it may be convenient and suitable to locate it.The attachment of bar to sash is by straps n, themselves soluble underan abnormal degree of heat, or the attachment is made to the sash bysolder soluble under such a heat. l/Vhen exposed to dangerous heat, thestraps or fastenings will give way and let the bar fall down or out, andthe sash will at once close.

G is the frame of a pivot-window; H, its single sash; I, itsglazing-work, and 0 its horizontal pivots, preferably placed above thecenter line, so that normally the sash would close by gravity. Such aWindow is habitually opened from the inside by pushing forward ahandle-bar K, provided with a line of holes or socketsp to catch on apin 0", projected from abracket L, attached to the window-frame, so thatthe window may be opened much or little, as desired. This bracketIattach to the window-frame G by solder or by a headed dowel s, passingthrough a hole t in the bracket into the fabric of the window-frame. Thesolder or dowel, as the case may be, is soluble when exposed to abnormalheat, so that the bracket would fall away under such an exposure and thewindow would then close automatically.

While awaiting the casualty against which it is provided, the bracket Lwould sufferv considerable strain from the preponderance of the lowerover the upper section of the sash O and the consequent tendency of thesash to swing back into a closed position. This strain I relieve byattaching the weight-bar F to the upper part of the present sash,substantially as I attach it to the upper sash of an ordinary two-sashwindow. It will fall away from the sash by the melting of its fasteningsunder abnormal heat exposure, and therefore will not in the least impairthe automatic closing of the sash in the anticipated time of emergency.

Instead of making the bracket L detachable under the effect of abnormalheat I have an alternative way of automatically closing the pivotedsash. I divide the handle-bar K into a sash-section u and a hand-sectionw and rigidly unite the sections by a fusible sleeve M, which may besegmental, so as to be no more than a plate fitted to the handle-barsections at any part of their circumference 0r cross-outline. Inpractice I prefer to round the contact-tips c of the bar-sections,because that will hasten their separation when the fusible sleeve orplate begins to give way.

Any person skilled in fireproof building construction will know how toselect or determine fastenings of the proper degree of fusibility forthe cleat of the lower sash, the counterbalance of the upper sash, andthe bracket or handle-bar and the counterbalance of the pivot-sash, allaccording to the circumstances of the particular structure.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim the following:

1. The combination of a window-frame, a downwardly-closing sash therein,a cleat attached to said sash and having an orificed inset adapted to.receive and hold one end of an ordinary sash-weight cord, a cordattached at one end to said cleat, a pulley attached to the frame andadapted to the passage over it of said cord, a balance-weight attachedto the other end of said cord, and a heat-soluble fastenin g adapted todetachably attach said cleat to said sash; all substantially as and forthe purposes described.

2. The combination of the frame and sashes of an ordinary upper andlower sliding-sash window, a cleat attached to the lower sash and havingan orificed inset adapted to receive and hold one end of an ordinarysashweight cord, a cord attached at one endto said cleat, a pulleyattached to the frame and adapted to the passage over it of said cord, aweight attached to the other 'end of said cord, a heat-soluble fasteningadapted to detachably attach said cleat to said lower sash, an ordinarysash -weight cord attached at one end to the upper sash, a pulleyattached to the frame and adapted to the passage over it of saidlast-named cord, a weight attached to the other end of said last-namedcord, a counterbalance attached to said upper sash, and a heat-solublefastening adapted to detachably attach said counterbalance to said sash;all substantially as and for the purposes described.

GEO. HAYES.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR .HAYEs, THOMAS J. DORAN.

